Heracles Undercover
by Belthizor
Summary: A modernised re-telling of the classic tale "The Twelve Labours of Heracules"


_Haha! I don't know what possessed me to write this story... I wrote it for a uni assignment, it's not one of my finer works, but you decide... _

Heracles Undercover – The Legend As Never Seen Before  
In a time where man ruled the land and the Gods were no longer recognised, a city is thrown into turmoil as members of Hades the Underworld's most respected criminal gang – as far as gangs go – almost wiped out the entire population with their drug trafficking. Only one man dared to stand against them, a young police officer descended from a long line of forgotten heroes rose up against the ranks and travelled to the Underworld's base of operations near the docks to put a stop for the last time to the Hades' heinous deeds. This man, known and feared by all but the most hardened of criminals as Heracles – the man of glory;

Why did Heracles fight these criminals with such passion and hatred? One might ask, the answer is thus: Heracles fought with a vengeance, he fought for his mother whom was killed not long before after she witnessed a murder committed by the Hades gang, Heracles fought with a rage unchallenged by any, even after being told not to go after the gang by his superior, Heracles still pursued them. So, Heracles travelled to the Underworld to put a stop to the cause of the city of New York's fear. This is the tale of a hero so bold that he faced the evils of an entire city in an effort to bring justice to his mother's killers. This is the tale of Heracles.

After trailing the gang for some time, Heracles decided to make an entrance – an entrance that was not warmly welcomed by the gang, who were in the midst of an illegal drug trafficking operation. (It is important to note here that the Hades Gang was divided up into several smaller factions headed by one of the Hades' elite men, each sub-faction here will be given a different name so as not to confuse you the reader.) The first sub-faction was known as the Nemeans as it was headed by the gang's strongest warrior – Leo Cutthroat. Heracles fought his way through the ranks of men until he found himself facing Leo himself in one-on-one unarmed combat. Heracles a master of street fighting methods threw the first punch and landed it square in Leo's abdominal regions, Leo, a large 6'5" tall burley looking man didn't even flinch and threw his own punches and kicks. Heracles taken by surprise at the man's strength and resistance to physical pain found himself blocking all punches and dodging all kicks to the best of his ability whilst landing his own, having no effect. Suddenly Heracles had an idea as if it were planted there by the Gods, whom he still believed existed, and Heracles landed a swift kick to Leo's kneecaps shattering them and toppling the large man. Heracles then produced a handgun a shot Leo dead. Thus, Heracles had defeated the Nemean Gang.

The second sub-faction that Heracles came upon was the Hydras led by their snake of a leader, Lerna. Lerna was particularly hard to defeat, as she was an expert weapons smith, as slippery as a snake and also had many 'clones' of herself – Heracles succeeded in killing the first 'clone' believing to have defeated Lerna herself, however no sooner had he killed the Lerna 'clone' than two more appeared out of the darkness. Heracles fought and defeated these as well as was surprised as four more 'Lernas' jumped him. Soon Heracles was tired of 'killing Lerna' repeatedly and the next Lerna he defeated, he questioned about the real Lerna at gun point, from this he was able to gather the information he needed, the real Lerna bore a tattoo of a many headed snake on her neck. It was in this way, that after killing more than two dozen 'Lernas' that finally he sank a dagger in the real Lerna's heart.

The third sub-faction was headed by a man of monstrous evil known to many as The Hind because of his ability to escape from any situation on his motorcycle. Heracles, not to be outdone by this masterful maniac took to his feet in a race against The Hind. Because of the narrow alleys and frequent obstacles, the going was slow for The Hind and it was in this way that Heracles was able to catch up and subdue The Hind handcuffing him he escorted him to the police station where he was imprisoned for illegal drug trafficking,

Heracles then moved onto the fourth sub-faction led by a dangerous, scarred man known as the Boar of Erymanthus, defeating him was no easy task but finally after much struggling; Heracles was able to knock the Boar over the edge of the docks and into the bay where, weighed down by his armour the Boar drowned.

By now, Heracles was making quite a name for himself both among the Hades Gang, and among the leaders of the next sub-faction, the Augeans were furious and was determined to put an end to Heracles once and for all, and before long, Heracles found himself surrounded by the leather clad gang members all wielding chains and riding motorcycles. Emblazoned on their jackets was the image of a red-eyed horse, although Heracles could not see the significance of this. Heracles was then rushed by the Augeans, but Heracles was not be subdued that easily and grabbing a hold of the first chain swung at him, he used all his strength to knock the wielder of his bike and into the next member, still swinging the chain. Heracles dismounted all the riders and then using their own chains, Heracles chained them all up and then called for the police force to come and collect them as he went off to defeat the next sub-faction, growing ever closer the grand leader of the Hades Gang.

The sixth sub-faction were known as the Stymphalian Birds and were so known for their likeness to war and violence, just like Ares, God of War, of whom the actual birds of mythology belonged. Unlike the Augeans, the Stymphalian Birds remained on foot, wielding sharp throwing weapons such as shurikens and throwing daggers, and were experts in the use of these weapons, so Heracles had a hard time, trying just to avoid the thrown weapons. Then an idea came to Heracles, and he picked up one of the fallen weapons up at one of the cranes holding a large shipping crate and by some miracle managed to slice through the rope holding the crate aloft. Down fell the crate and crushed many members of the gang underneath it, those that did not get crushed were quickly overcome and arrested by Heracles.

The seventh sub-faction was lead by the Cretan Bull, a tough man who could withstand substantial amounts of pain and physical damage thus making him a formidable opponent indeed. However, unlike Leo, the Bull was not fast and agile thus Heracles found it easy for him to overpower him, trapping him in a net that the ocean liners used when fishing.

The Diomedean Mares (the eighth sub-faction) were led by four extremely dangerous women. These women were expertly trained in martial arts and when together were almost unstoppable, however, they were no match for Heracles who possessed strength unrivalled by anyone and soon after a slight struggle, Heracles managed to subdue these women and disabled them, handcuffing them together as a group.

The ninth sub-faction were, if possible, more dangerous than the Diomedean Mares for they were a band of female warriors descended from a long line of warriors dating right back to the time of the Amazons – a warlike tribe of women. As with the Mares, these Amazons were highly trained in the art of hand-to-hand combat, but with heightened agility and mobility, their speed was what made them a most dangerous opponent. This band of rogue warriors was led by a fierce woman by the name of Hippolyte. By this time, Heracles was getting tired of fighting sub-faction after sub-faction and just wanted to get to the Hades Gang's true leader. So he did not hold back and went into a vengeful rage getting an increase in his adrenaline and killing all of Hippolyte's warriors and Hippolyte herself.

The tenth faction was led by Geryon, a man who disabled as a child was forced to live his life out as a machine, and thus when he reached the age of 18 he forged for himself a suit of metal and mechanics so that he may once again walk. Having got caught up in the gang of Hades, he later upgraded his 'suit' to include many dangerous gadgets. A truly formidable opponent, his metal suit repelled any bullets fired at him, and thus he was immune to physical damage, but still able to deliver a powerful electrical shock. After trying and failing several times to disable Geryon, Heracles then spied a fire extinguisher and got an idea. Darting from his hiding place, Heracles ran towards the fire extinguisher grabbing and facing towards Geryon, fired a jet of water from it, short-circuiting Geryon's metallic/electric suit and thus disabling Geryon.

Whilst the eleventh sub-faction was not actually a faction of men and/or women for Heracles to fight, it was a major front for drug smuggling. The faction had been smuggling drugs out through produce such as apples and was ultimately successfully smuggling drugs in and out of the country. Thus, Heracles had to put a stop to the Hesperides sisters, the ringleaders of this operation and burst in with his gun raised placing them all under arrest, by far the easiest of all the factions that he had defeated.

At long last, Heracles came face to face with the leader of the Hades Gang, Hades himself. Hades was a large man who dressed in only the finest suits and carried with him a three-headed staff, the staff of Cerberus, as it became known in later times. Though an extremely large man, Hades was surprisingly agile and Heracles had a hard time trying to land a blow, and to make matters worse, the staff that Hades held spouted out jets of fire making Hades a very dangerous man indeed. Though Heracles tried, Hades seemed to have the upper hand, until Heracles, further enraged by the death of his mother at the hands of this man, crippled Hades by shooting out his kneecaps and then disarming him. Heaving and covered in sweat and blood Heracles then did the unthinkable and killed Hades in cold blood swearing in the name of his beloved mother that Hades shall not live to kill an innocent again. And thus, Heracles, man of glory, committed a heinous murder that not even the mayor could excuse. Enraged at what he had done and at the loss of his mother, Heracles took the gun to his skull and pulled the trigger ending his life.

An odd yet appropriate ending to a tale long told, no-one quite knows what was going through Heracles mind, nor do they know why he went to great lengths to avenge his mother, but what is known is that Heracles shall remain immortalised in the tales of men and women alike.


End file.
